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Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake

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This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions like flax seed, whole wheat white flour, and coconut oil for one delicious cake.

Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake on blue plate with fork

Guuyyssss I made you a vegan carrot cake with cashew frosting and it tastes super freaking awesome! I was actually rather impressed with myself, not gonna lie *hair flip*

I started with a more traditional, “healthier carrot cake” recipe found on allrecipes.com, but it called for eggs and vegetable oil… womp womp. Not that I don’t eat eggs, because I do… But I’ve been enjoying experimenting with vegan baking substitutions and I wanted to see if I could start with a traditional recipe and change things up from there. Lo and behold, it came out BANGIN’.

This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions like flax seed, whole wheat white flour, and coconut oil for one delicious cake.

 

I tested this Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake on some work friends last weekend. One of the girls had us over to build terrariums (which I actually didn’t make one, but that’s besides the point) and I figured it was the perfect time to test this recipe on a “gaggle of girls”, as my dad would say (I don’t know why that just came to mind, but it did, and my dad does say that and now it’s making me laugh).  But here’s the thing… If I am being 100% honest, I didn’t make the frosting vegan the first time. None of them are actually vegan,  and I was worried they wouldn’t like my cashew frosting I used here. And when you make a classic carrot cake, you kind of just expect a tangy cream cheese frosting, so I didn’t want to disappoint my taste testers. And mainly I didn’t want to buy specific vegan cream cheese because I don’t eat that myself… anywayysss.

I did bring THIS cake into work earlier this week, and some of the same girls came back for this vegan version. So I think it’s safe to say it was a hit however you decide you want to frost it 😉

Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake on blue plate with whole carrots

100% vegan, and 100% delicious! The ingredients look a little something like this >>>

Cake Ingredients

  • 3 cups grated carrots
  • whole wheat white flour
  • flax seed
  • granulated & brown sugars
  • coconut oil
  • applesauce

 

For the Frosting (if you’d like a soy-free, vegan option)

  • 2 cups cashews, soaked & drained
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup

Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake frosted on tree slice cake stand

 

To start the cake, I suggest making up your flax eggs first. You’ll need to let your flax seeds soak in water for about 10-15 minutes, until a thick gel forms.

flax eggs mix with silver whisk for Vegan Carrot Cake

 

While the flax seeds gel up, you can grate your carrots! If you’re not grating the carrots by hand, this cake can be made even quicker by using a food processor. I used my food processor* with the shredding attachment, then the blade to cut them down into bits.

carrots in food processor for Carrot Cake

You then transfer the carrots to your bowl of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. (picture below, top left)

And because I didn’t want to dirty another bowl, I just wiped out the food processor bowl and started combining the wet ingredients in there.

Blend the sugars with the flax eggs, then add in your melted coconut oil and applesauce. (food processor bowl picture)

Once that is all blended, you add your wet ingredients to your flour/carrot bowl of dry ingredients and gently combine. Then evenly disperse the batter into two lined 9″ round cake pans. (picture on right, before going into oven) 

Steps to make Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake

I used both parchment paper + greased the pans with coconut oil to ensure they came out perfectly. This cake should take roughly 25 minutes if using 9″ round pans. Just let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

If you are using a 9×13, watch cake at 35-40 minutes, and test with toothpick until it comes out clean. I did not test in a 9×13 pan myself, so if you try it out let me know how it goes!

Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake with frosting and piece cut out on wooden tree slice

And let your cake cool completely before frosting!

Slice of Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake on blue plate

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whole wheat carrot cake on blue plate

Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake

★★★★★

4.7 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Ashley
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 16 1x
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Description

This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions like flax seed, whole wheat white flour, and coconut oil for one delicious cake.

Scale

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup milled flax seeds* + 3/4 cup lukewarm water, soaked for 10 minutes
  • 3/4 granulated sugar (I used beet sugar)
  • 3/4 organic light brown sugar (or sub coconut sugar)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup applesauce (mashed banana may be subbed)
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat white flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 TBS ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 3 cups grated carrots (about 1lb)

Vegan Cashew Cream Frosting:

  • 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 6 hours, drained & rinsed
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup (+ more to taste)
  • 1/3 cup non-dairy milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F, line two 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper, plus lightly grease and dust with flour. Set aside.
  2. In medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup flax seeds and 3/4 cup water and whisk together. Let seeds and water form gel, about 15 minutes total, whisking every 5 minutes. Grate carrots while flax seeds thicken. (I used my food processor with shredding disc + blade, see pictures in post)
  3. In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk until evenly combined, then fold in grated carrots.
  4. In the clean bowl of your food processor (or large bowl using hand mixer, or stand mixer with whisk attachment) combine sugars, flax “eggs”, and vanilla extract until creamy, about 30 seconds. With the motor still running, add in applesauce, and pour steady stream of coconut oil until wet ingredients are evenly combined.
  5. Pour wet ingredients into large bowl of flour/carrot mixture. Using a large rubber spatula, gently combine. Disperse batter evenly into prepared pans.
  6. Bake cake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in pans for about 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. To make the frosting: Combine rinsed cashews with 1/3 cup of maple syrup, and 1/3 cup of non-dairy milk in a high speed blender or food processor. Process until creamy, even consistency forms. Transfer frosting to a bowl and set in freezer for 30 minutes to firm. Once chilled, whip frosting with hand mixer or use whisk. Spread a medium-thick layer of frosting evenly over first layer of cake, then layer second cake on top and frost completely. Store cake in fridge before serving.

Notes

*Chia seeds (same amount/water ratio) can most likely be subbed for flax seeds, but I have not tried this myself.

–Store leftover cake in fridge up to 5 days.

—This cake can by made in a 9×13 pan, but baking times will differ. Check cake with toothpick at 35-40 minutes and adjust times accordingly.

(Nutrition does not count frosting option)

recipe adapted from here

  • Category: dessert
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: american

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 195
  • Sugar: 14
  • Fat: 8
  • Carbohydrates: 26
  • Fiber: 4
  • Protein: 3

Keywords: Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake, healthy cake recipe

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Slice of Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake being eaten off of a blue plate

So I hope you guys make this cake!! Vegans and non-vegans alike will love it.

 

I am curious

  • What is your favorite kind of cake to make? Or eat, for the non-bakers out there 😉

 

 

This Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Cake is moist and flavorful, plus made with some healthier substitutions for a clean-eating treat!

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Comments

  2. GIRL same brain I just ate carrot cake over the weekend (a really unhealthy cake mind you…. ) and I was thinking of attempting a slightly healthier version as my next cake adventure. But now I’m not so sure because this looks and sounds PERFECT. I love that you used cashew frosting, too. I love classic frosting (duh), but I also love pretty much anything cashew-based.

    Reply

    • Well thank you Erin! But I would still love to see your carrot cake 😉
      And I totally agree with you about cashews. They are so good and I’ve been loving finding different ways to use them in recipes.

      Reply

    • I was the same way growing up about carrot cake. I feel like it was my sister’s favorite. But I wanted peanut butter pie (because I just HAD to be different).
      Thanks Brie!

      Reply

    • lol! I totally understand what you mean about cake baking. This was actually my first layered cake recipe I’ve done. But it was so much easier than I thought! You can do it 😉

      Reply

  16. Oh my gosh!! YUM!! This looks amazing! What a great recipe! So perfect for Spring and Easter! Thanks for sharing girl! And hmmmm… my fave cake to eat (I’m not a baker) is actually a tart! Hail Merry Miracle Tart from Whole Foods! It’s raw vegan and gluten free and SO good! I’m a chocolate LOVER!!
    xoxo Cailee!!

    Reply

  18. Yum yum!! This carrot cake looks incredible! I love the use of applesauce and coconut oiL! This is truely perfect for Easter. And Spring time in general!

    Reply

  20. This. Is. EVERYTHING. (yes caps were necessary there!!!) Girl, all of your baking is amazing. When we have a BGB girls weekend (because that’s totally going to happy one day) I designate you head dessert maker.

    Reply

  23. I would love to make this cake but I don’t quite understand and I’m really sorry for silly question but what do you mean by 1/2 cup of flax + 3/4 of luke warm water ? 3/4 of what?Cup?How much ml? Thank you

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Daniela, thanks so much for your comment! I see in the recipe page I actually forgot to put in 3/4 *cup* of water. 🙂 Thank you for bringing that to my attention! So it is 1/4 cup of milled flaxseed mixed with 3/4 cup water, soaked for 10 minutes and it will start to get thick. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  25. Hey Asley! Thanks for the recipe. I am planning to make it tonight! Do you have an idea by how many regular eggs I can sub flax eggs in this recipe? thanks!

    Reply

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